"Thanks to the unanimous counsel of his national security team, President Trump appears to be edging away from his long-standing threat to junk the international accord that limits Iran's nuclear program, the newspaper said in an editorial. But it seems likely that he will embark on a dangerous and pointless game of brinkmanship with Tehran by refusing to recertify the deal to Congress.

"Such a declaration would be manifestly dishonest, and it could trigger a process that could cause the agreement to unravel. But it would spare the president from a duty he finds loathsome: certifying every 90 days that President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy achievement is intact."

The newspaper said the 2015 accord is flawed, but noted "there isn't much question that Iran is abiding by terms that drastically limits its stockpile of nuclear materials and make it virtually impossible to produce an atomic weapon in the next decade."

The newspaper pointed out the International Atomic Energy Agency has regularly certified that Iran is in compliance.

"Mr. Trump nevertheless is said to be leaning toward 'decertifying' Iran under legislation Congress passed," according to the Post. "Doing so would not by itself rupture the accord; instead, it would give Congress a 60-day window to decide on reimposing sanctions.

"Congress could spare him the pain of appearing to validate Mr. Obama's legacy by removing the certification requirement. Failing that, it should, at least, not compound his folly: It should not rupture a status quo that, for all its flaws, is preventing the eruption of another nuclear crisis."